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Could Not Hold Back Tears When I Heard National Anthem: Golden Girl PV Sindhu After Historic Win

PV Sindhu won the World Championships in her third attempt with a dominating win over 2017 champion Nozomi Okuhara.

PV Sindhu became the first Indian to win a World Championships gold. (Photo Credit: @pvsindhu1)

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PV Sindhu showed absolute dominance and great agility and accuracy on court as she outplayed Japan's Nozomi Okuhara 21-7, 21-7 in just 38 minutes to become India's first World Championships gold medallist.

For the past two years, Sindhu had reached the World Championship finals only for Okuhara (2017) and Carolina Marin (2018) to prevent her on crossing the final hurdle.

On Sunday, however, she finally moved to the top of the podium and stood there with the gold medal around her neck, beaming with pride.

But as the national anthem played and Indian flag rose the highest, Sindhu stood singing along with moist eyes, all the emotions clearly visible on her face.

"I could not hold back my tears when I saw the Indian flag and heard the National anthem playing. Words can't express my feelings about yesterday's win at the World Championship. Had been preparing for it for so long. Finally, the wait ended," Sindhu wrote on Instagram.

Sindhu had won the BWF World Tour Finals at the end of the previous season but all of 2019, she had looked an average player, struggling for variety and devoid of any surprise element. It was all a build-up, it now seems.

When Sindhu reached the final of Indonesia Open Super 1000, where she lost to Akane Yamaguchi, Sindhu displayed her array of strokes - the ones she had developed while working incessantly at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.

South Korean Kim Ji Hyun joined as a coach in the national setup in March and has been working on Sindhu's game since them. Earlier, Kim had told the BWF website, "The way she plays, I feel it's not smart enough. I mean, at the top level, you have to be smart. It has to be a combination, like your technique, and hitting and mentality. There are so many skills she has to work on, especially net skills and deception. Step by step, we're working on skills, and changing tactics, as you can't use the same tactics over and over again."

With Kim ringing in the changes, Sindhu has begun to show the results again. Also, the hard hours spent with her strength trainer Srikanth Verma Madapalli has been fruitful as well. All the muscles that Sindhu has developed has enabled her to cover the court better and move and execute her attacking game to perfection.

"It wouldn't have been possible without the support of my parents, my coaches (Gopi sir and Ms Kim) and my trainer (Mr Srikanth Verma). And most importantly, I would like to thank my sponsors and all my fans who have supported me all along. FINALLY WORLD CHAMPION 2019," Sindhu concluded her post.

With the World Championships ticked off, Sindhu will have her eyes firm on 2020 Tokyo Olympics now. After her silver medal performance in Rio, expectation will be high from the Indian but like she has shown for the past three years, the big matches are where she thrives.